Sanokata wa mi ni narazu tomo hana nomi ni sakite mie koso koi no nagusa ni

さのかたは実にならずとも花のみに
咲きて見えこそ恋のなぐさに

Roma-ji: Sanokata wa mi ni narazu tomo hana nomi ni sakite mie koso koi no nagusa ni
English Translation: Sanokata tree,
though you may not come to fruit,
just with your flowers
bloom and show yourself to me,
a comfort for my longing.
Meaning: O sanokata, even if you bear no fruit, at least bloom and show me your flowers, as a comfort for my love.
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Love Poems 1928

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems in Dialogue"
This poem asks that, even if the plant bears no fruit, it at least bloom and show its flowers, a heart that does not ask for love's fulfillment but wishes at least to meet. "Sanokata" is the name of a plant, and the fruit is thought to figure love's fulfillment and the flowers a meeting. It forms an exchange with the next poem, 1929.

In the first line, "sanokata wa," "sanokata" is the name of a plant, sometimes identified as akebi.
In the second line, "mi ni narazu tomo," "tomo" marks a concessive supposition, implying: even if love does not bear fruit.
The third line, "only with flowers," means at least the flowers.
In the fourth line, "sakite mie koso," "koso" is a particle of wishing: bloom and show yourself. The poem breaks here.
In the last line, "koi no nagusa ni," "nagusa" means comfort; by inversion it gives the reason for the wish at the end.
Source: Manyoshu
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